I recently came across a box full of keepsakes from my days as a CalArts student. Among the memory jogging items were sketches and a letter by animation legend T. Hee. Tee was one of my teachers, and we bonded over our love for the skewed and whimsical. Finding these items was a thrill, as I had not seen them in almost thirty years.
At school, Tee would make the rounds and hang with anyone interested in his input. He would place tracing paper over my designs and, with a few tweaks, make it work. He would make clucking sounds with his tongue while marking little x-es on my tangents. He would move an arm or leg a little to get balance or silhouette. I took advantage of any opportunity to sit with him as he went over my sketches and storyboards.
